Intel ViiV vs. AMD Live!

Introduction

In the war to see who establishes a standard for digital entertainment computers archenemies Intel and AMD present their weapons: at one corner Intel with their ViiV platform – which is the digital home concept that Intel is pushing for ages with a new name – and at the other corner AMD with their Live! Platform. In this article you will learn the main specs for each platform and will see what you will be able to do with them.

A digital entertainment computer proposed by Intel ViiV and AMD Live! platforms is in charge of distributing digital content (data, music, movies, photos, etc) to other electronic equipment such as TVs, notebooks, MP3 players and PDAs. This digital entertainment computer should be able to record TV shows, videos, music and photos in DVD or CD. If you have this kind of PC at home it is possible for one person to watch a DVD movie being transmitted by it at one room of your house and, at the same time, another person listening to MP3 music at another room, also being transmitted by this computer, both using wireless communication.

This digital entertainment computer needs a minimum hardware requirement to be able to process, store and distribute all digital content available. Not all computers can be used as a digital entertainment computer. This computer, for example, must be able to deliver different digital content to several different electronic equipments at the same time.

Keep in mind that ViiV and Live! aren’t isolated technologies, but digital entertainment platforms. Their concept is the same of Intel’s Centrino, where in order to be considered “Centrino” a laptop must meet a certain hardware requirements. On Intel ViiV and AMD Live! platforms a computer can only be considered a digital entertainment computer if it meets a certain hardware and software requirements. In fact, Intel ViiV and AMD Live! define the minimum requirements needed for a digital entertainment PC. Think of these platforms as an “approval seal”, where if a computer meets certain requirements it can be called “ViiV-enabled” or “Live!-enabled”.

AMD Live! platform is based on technologies available on the market and other that will be available soon, while Intel ViiV platform is based on technologies available today.

Gabriel Torres is a Brazilian best-selling ICT expert, with 24 books published. He started his online career in 1996, when he launched Clube do Hardware, which is one of the oldest and largest websites about technology in Brazil. He created Hardware Secrets in 1999 to expand his knowledge outside his home country.